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Liberals ponder ‘marriage’ to Free Alliance group

LIBERALS in the European Parliament, the assembly’s third biggest group, may join forces with the European Free Alliance (EFA) after June’s elections, it has emerged.

European Voice

3/10/04, 5:00 PM CET

Updated 4/12/14, 9:51 AM CET

Liberal group chairman Graham Watson has already held informal discussions with EFA leader Nelly Maes, a Belgian MEP, about a possible link-up after the 10-13 June poll.

The move comes as Watson played down speculation about a new federalist-minded group the Liberals could form with European Commission President Romano Prodi’s Margarita alliance in Italy and François Bayrou’s Union for French Democracy (UDF).

Watson said the his group was well-positioned to take advantage of current splits in the European People’s Party (EPP-ED), Parliament’s biggest political group, and the “incoherent” Socialists.

But he admitted some Liberals remain nervous about any future coalition with Prodi and Bayrou.

The EFA currently has an alliance with Daniel Cohn-Bendit’s Green group in Parliament. However, it may be more attracted to the Liberals as the Greens, who are not a strong political force in the ten countries joining the EU on 1 May, are not expected to do well in this summer’s elections.

The EFA comprises nine MEPs, including members from the Scottish Nationalist Party and Plaid Cymru in Wales, Maes’ Flemish regional party and Galicia in Spain.

Watson last week held informal talks in Brussels with Prodi and Bayrou over the possibility of joining forces in Parliament. Afterwards, he said the ELDR had produced a ten-point list of policies, which must be satisfied before it would consider forming a new group with Margarita and the UDF.

These include a commitment to meeting the goals of the Lisbon Agenda, which aims to make the EU the world’s most competitive economy by 2010, and the draft EU constitution.